Last year was my first GoF and despite the friendliness of everyone there, I tended to focus on games.

Now that's all well and good, but the real value is the people that go, not the games.

So this year, I found myself playing less prototypes and new games but in exchange I played with a lot of folks I did not know yet.This made the experience even better. I have MANY more new friends than I acquired last year and this makes me very happy.

But everyone asks about the games I played, so here's a list. Apologies in advance if I misremember anything or anyone.

Trade Empires although the name may change. In this, you have variable player powers and are looking to make tons of money in a sci-fi setting. This looks close to being a finished game and I believe this should get published.

In this game, you ply the trade routes of Asia until you reach Beijing. You also fulfill contracts to obtain VP's.

The deal here is choices and worker placement in the form of dice. Get your resources, move your merchant or a combination of both.

Both can give you points and cost resources.

Each player has a variable power, i.e. one can set their dice and don't have to roll them, one gets extra resources when others go to the market and one gets a free contract each turn and an extra die for the entire game.

I saw this being played more than any other and I ended up teaching this 4 or 5 times.